Werner Mummert: Sandblasted Hawkbill Tobacco Pipe

Enigmatic German artisan Werner Mummert is something of a master of the unconventional, with a body of work that spans myriad styles, from the traditional, to the abstract, and with a design outlook that draws influence not only from pipes but art. Appropriately, the art movements his work embodies are equally varied, with this signature Hawkbill a confluence of Art Deco and Art Nouveau, merging the crisp angularity of the former with the supple curves of the latter. The stem here is a trim saddle arrangement that presents with a vibrant green color, its base adorned with a rather understated blue band before another section of green meets the shank end, the striking colors standing out readily against the darker hues of the stummel. At the shank we see the iconic aquiline curve expected of the shape, though its arc is quite a bit more subtle than those pipes crafted in the Italian Neoclassical tradition, lending it a more demure posture which offers a refined, elegant stance overall, bolstered by a pair of ridgelines at its flanks. Additionally, there is a restrained flare about the shank as it ebbs out of the transition, with the transition itself carved with supple cheeking, the underside of the shank extending outward to prop up the bowl, the cheeking giving it a defined outline against the bowl's base.

While the Hawkbill is usually seen with a very rounded, Ball-style bowl, Mummert has here chosen to render it with a Brandy bowl, sitting atop the extended shank in such a way that creates a spurred heel. The low-set waistline of the bowl itself is plump, offering a lovely space for the fingers to wrap around, and starts a gentle taper to the rim, rising high to build the walls up over two inches in height, the flare of the shank and stem base balancing the visual weight of the bowl to place the focal point squarely at the transition. There isn't a great deal of angularity to the overall construction of the stummel, so, you may ask, "Where is the Art Deco influence?" It is here that I point to the finish of the stummel, as it has received one of Mummert's deep sandblasts, unveiling dense, quavering stacks of ring grain across the bowl beneath its black stain, with growth rings pushing up through the shank in a chevron-like pattern. This creates not only a great deal of visual and textural intrigue, but a series of firm lines all across the briar which bolsters the shank's ridges, making them sharper, and further causes the heel to pop visually, the colors of the stem offering a wonderful contrast.